1. The House of Lords
By Baron Lazar, Esquire

2. Outline Brief Background Current Structure & Functions
Timeline of Reforms
Current Reform Proposals
Where are we now?
Analysis Questions

3. Introductory thoughts…
The “best club in London”
“The cure for admiring the House of Lords is to go and look at it.” Walter Bagehot, 1867
“ The House of Lords, an illusion to which I have never been able to subscribe - responsibility without power, the prerogative of the eunuch throughout the ages.’’ – Tom Stoppard
Lords Reform goes to the heart of the debate about democracy: how do we decide the will of the people?
The House of Lords is an institution with a long and illustrious past, but a rather more uncertain future

4. Unreformed Structure of the Lords
755 members
Hereditary Peers – Title inherited (dying breed)
Life Peers – Appointed by the Queen on advice of PM. Usually due to distinguished service in politics or society.
Law Lords – Senior Judges (no longer)
Lords Spiritual – Senior bishops from the Church of England

7. Other Opposition      UKIP (3)      Democratic Unionist Party (2)      Plaid Cymru (2)      Ulster Unionist Party (2)      Green (1)      Ind Lab (1)      Ind L Dem (1)      Lab Ind (1)      L Dem Ind (1) Other      Crossbenchers (183)      Non-affiliated (21)
     Lords Spiritual (25)
HM Government      -Conservative Party (208)      -Liberal Democrats (89) HM Most Loyal Opposition      -Labour Party (216)

8. Functions of the Lords Initiate Legislation, except money bills
Can delay legislation for up to a year (financial legislation for only a month)
Provide Expertise – Titles bestowed for achievement
Questioning - Regular Question Times for government ministers in the Lords
Scrutinize – a “second pair of eyes”. Lords makes around 2,000 amendments a year to legislation, nearly all of which are accepted
Debate controversial issues - death penalty, gay rights, etc.
Used to have Law Lords. Not since 2009.
No veto power

9. Function: to slow or stymie ‘Elective Dictatorship’
Term was coined by Lord Hailsham (aka Quintin Hogg, ) in a public lecture.
Once in power an elected government is nearly always able to get its legislation passed by Parliament.
Westminster system means that a government will fall if defeated on a major vote of confidence. In consequence, party whips are able to ensure that the government’s legislative proposals are supported at every stage in the House of Commons.
PM and Cabinet effectively decide what will become law and Parliament nearly always rubber stamps the bills that come before it.

10. Comparisons with Commons
Differences from the HoC
Similarities with HoC
Unelected
Second Chamber with secondary role
Not paid
Includes bishops & archbishops
Scrutinises
Debates
Select committees
Whips
Speaker (called Lord Chancellor in HoL)
Checks gov

11. Timeline of Lords Reform
1911: Parliament Act; the first major restrictions on the Lord’s power – Commons can pass money bills without Lords’ advice or consent.
1949: Parliament Act; limits the delaying powers of Lords to 1 year
1958: Women peers arrive
1970s-80s: Labour party policy advocates abolition of Lords
1992: Labour abandons abolition in favor of reform
1999: Blair abolishes all but 92 hereditary peers
2000: Wakeham Report recommends largely appointed chamber
2001: White Paper
2003: Queen’s speech advocated end to hereditary peers
2007: White Paper
2011: Lord Reform Bill published and debated

12. The Wakeham Report
Lord Wakeham (Conservative MP in Hof C, retired as Lord in 1994, Director of Enron, now Chancellor of Brunel University)
Asked by Labour government to head Royal Commission to investigate possible reforms to Lords.
Report made public in January 2000.
132 wide-ranging proposals. Its main recommendations were…

13. The Wakeham Report, 2000 Largely appointed House of 450-550 members
independent commission to appoint members - removing PM patronage
Did not recommend an elected chamber
15 year terms
30% of members should be women
Fair representation of ethnic minorities
Broader religious representation
Small Number of regionally elected members

14. 2001 White Paper
White Papers allow the Government an opportunity to gather feedback before it formally presents the policies as a Bill.
“A credible and effective second chamber is vital to the health of Britain's democracy... Our mission is to equip the British people with a Parliament and a constitution fit for the 21st century.”
Lords would remain subject to the pre-eminence of the Commons 
Removal of 92 hereditary peers from Lords.
Greater representation of women and ethnic minorities.
120 directly elected members to represent regions.
120 independent members appointed by the Appointments Commission.
Large numbers of members appointed by political parties.
2003, Lords and Commons debated the report. Results were…

15. Results of Parliamentary Votes 4 February 2003
After this series of votes 
Results of Parliamentary Votes 4 February 2003
Option
Lords
Commons
Elected
Appointed
For
Against 0%
100%
335
110
245
323
20%
80% 39
375 –
40%
60% 60
358
50% 84
322 91
317
253
316 93
338
281
284
106
329
272
289
Abolition -
172
390

16. 2007 White Paper
New White Paper following discussions of a cross-party working group convened by Jack Straw, Leader of Commons
Elected members + members appointed by a new Statutory Appointments Commission
Any elected element would be elected under a regional list system
All elections and appointments would take place on a 5-year cycle, with one third of the House admitted at each intake to a fixed 15-year non- renewable term
Prohibits Lords from seeking election to Commons before a minimum amount of time had elapsed after the expiry of their term as Lord
Gradual transition, with no life peers forced to retire, but with the possibility of a redundancy package should they choose to do so.

18. Where are we now?
2010 Lib-Dem Manifesto demanded a full elected Lords.
Conservative Manifesto demanded a mainly elected Lords.
120 elected members
30 appointed members
up to 21 bishops
Detailed proposals for Lords reform including a draft House of Lords Reform Bill were published on 17 May These include…

19. Where are we now? 300-member hybrid house, of which 80% are elected.
20% would be appointed, and reserve space would be included for some Church of England bishops.
Single non-renewable term of 15 years.
Elections to the reformed Lords should take place at the same time as elections to the Commons.
Elected Members should be elected using proportional representation.
Independent Members will be appointed by the Queen after being suggested by the Prime Minister acting on advice of an Appointments Commission.
The current powers of the House of Lords would not change and the Commons shall retain its status as the primary House of Parliament.

21. Analysis Questions What does the British electorate think?
Overall, people support the House of Lords being replaced by an elected chamber:
44% would prefer an mostly elected chamber
32% a mixed elected and appointed chamber
11% a chamber that was mostly appointed
Asked specifically about the proposal to make the Lords 80% elected:
31% said this did not go far enough and the Lords should be entirely elected
34% that the balance was about right
10% that there should be a smaller elected element
11% that there should be no elected element 
52% of people said that while it was good idea, it should not be a priority at the moment given Britain’s other problems. 20% said the Lords works reasonably well and should be left alone.
Asked if there should be a referendum on the future of the Lords 55% of people said yes, 26% no
…and how much should this matter?

22. Analysis Questions
Does this tradition warrant preservation? If it ain’t broke…
If both Houses are wholly or largely elected, does Commons lose it’s primacy?
Balance of Power?
Gridlock of two elected Houses?
Shouldn’t expertise and achievement count for something in politics?
How big should the Lords be? 150? 300? 450? Does it matter?

23. Analysis Questions
How should elected members be elected? PR? FPP SMDP? Party List?
What role should partisanship play in new Lords?
Does Lords have a natural and immutable Conservative bias?
Lords repeatedly voted against Labour Gov - defeated 97 times in 2001
Why not just abolish the second House? Unicameral legislatures can work just fine (half of the world’s states are unicameral, as are all the devolved governments in the UK).

24. Analysis Questions
What is most democratic and what weight should the implications on democracy bear?
"Electing the second chamber is not self-evidently the democratic option – by dividing accountability it can undermine the capacity of the people to hold government to account (since policies may emerge for which it is not directly responsible) and can sweep away the very benefits that the present system delivers.?
--Lord Norton – March 2012
“We in the House of Lords are never in touch with public opinion. That makes us a civilised body.”
-- Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance